USGS Office of Communications Science Picks — Leads, Feeds and Story Seeds August 2007 Edition For Release: UPON RECEIPT Back-to-School Science: Tap into more than 127 years of USGS research in the natural sciences with handy research tools, such as glossaries on volcanoes, mapping, biology and water, or search for homework help and school project ideas. Lesson plans with innovative activities address environmental concerns, fossils, caves and much more. Explorers can look into natural hazards, investigate careers in science, and trace history through maps. For more information, see educational resources for primary, secondary, and university educators and students at http://education.usgs.gov. Looking for lesson plans, images and maps? Photos and Web links are available. If you would like to receive Science Picks via e-mail, would like to change the recipient or no longer want to receive it, please e-mail dmakle@xxxxxxxxx August Highlights: · Protecting Your Family — The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety · Volcano Education Made Easy · Wondering about Wandering Birds of the Great Basin? · Bird 54, Where Are You? · How Much Water Do You Need to Grow a Hamburger? · Butterflies and Moths Web Site Draws Rave Reviews · What is a Mineral Deposit? · USGS Subscription Makes Science No “Trivial Pursuit” · USGS Launches Podcast Series - CoreCast Channel · Science in Motion: Animations and Films · Map Adventures Help Young People Find Their Way · The USGS is a Polar Resources Powerhouse · National Parks — A 3-D Adventure · What is a Mineral Deposit? · Get a Closer Look at Mars! · Earth Science Week 2007 is Just Around the Corner Protecting Your Family — The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety: Experts say it is very likely there will be a damaging earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area in the next 30 years. It will strike without warning, so don’t wait until it happens to prepare — it may be hard to find needed supplies and services. For example, hospitals may have more patients than they can treat, and grocery stores may be closed for weeks. The USGS and Federal, State, local and civic earthquake authorities have developed two guides that explain the Bay Area earthquake threat and how to prepare for earthquakes. “Protecting Your Family From Earthquakes — The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety” is now available in two multilingual editions, including an English and Spanish version (http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2007/41/) and an English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean version (http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2007/42/). “Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country: Your Handbook for the San Francisco Bay Region” (http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2005/15/) is also available. View the handbooks online, download and print them, or order copies from the websie. The tips found in these publications may apply to other earthquake-prone areas of the country. Take action now to make sure your family will be safe. Feeling shaky about earthquake curriculum, tools and tasks? Check out the site “Earthquakes for Kids” at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids/. For more information, contact Susan Garcia, at (650) 329-4668 or garcia@xxxxxxxx or Stephanie Hanna at (206) 220-4573 or shanna@xxxxxxxxx Volcano Education Made Easy: Imagine hearing a volcano erupt thousands of miles away. Imagine looking through binoculars and seeing the top of a mountain collapse. Imagine discovering an ancient Roman city buried in volcanic ash. Volcanoes are creative forces. The Earth’s first oceans and atmosphere formed from the gases given off by volcanoes. In turn, oceans and an atmosphere created the environment that made life possible. Volcanoes have also shaped the Earth’s landscape. Many of our mountains, islands, and plains have been built by volcanic eruptions. Learn more at http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/teachers-packets/volcanoes/. Wondering about Wandering Birds of the Great Basin? On a blustery fall morning, a cowboy in western Nevada peers toward the rising sun. In his line of sight, perched on a fence post, backlit by the quickening dawn is a hawk. He wonders, “What brought this hawk here on a fall morning? ... Where did it come from?” Through links on the “Wandering Birds of the Great Basin” Web site, users can choose a hawk, a falcon or American white pelican and follow its journey throughout the Western United States. Icons show where the bird has visited and link to additional information, such as location and activities. For more, see http://greatbasin.nbii.gov/wander_birds/home.htm or contact Julie Prior-Magee at (505) 646-1084 or jpmagee@xxxxxxxxx Bird 54, Where Are You? Scientists from the USGS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are outfitting captured marbled godwits, a large shorebird and a species of concern in both the U.S. and Canada, with lightweight, solar-powered satellite transmitters to monitor and track the birds’ movements and help land managers to conserve the migratory birds and their habitats. Follow marbled godwit “Sonora” and her friends at http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Resources/GoGodwits/. Find out where the birds breed and also where they stop to “refuel” during their migratory journeys of thousands of miles. Want to help? Report sightings! If you spot a marbled godwit with colored leg bands, report the alpha-numeric code, location and time of sighting to USGS scientist Adrian Farmer at (435) 734-6433 or Fish and Wildlife Service scientist Bridget Olson at (435) 734-6433 or Bridget_Olson@xxxxxxxx For more information, go to http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?D=1521. How Much Water Do You Need to Grow a Hamburger? About 1,300 gallons — for the vegetation the cow eats, for the cow to drink, for processing the meat, and the cow might need a bath or two! These are fast facts available on the USGS Water for Schools Web site, http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu. Maps, data, pictures and challenge questions, a glossary of water terms and other useful links are available. The entire site is available in Spanish, and special section “The Water Cycle” has been translated into 50 languages. For more information on water or water resources and tools contact Jennifer LaVista at (703) 648-4432 or jlavista@xxxxxxxxx FEEDS (USGS tools and resources) Butterflies and Moths Web Site Draws Rave Reviews: The NBII Mountain Prairie Information Node has unveiled “Butterflies and Moths of North America” (BAMONA; http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org, a data-rich Web site that has garnered rave reviews from users ranging from professional lepidopterists to backyard bug-catchers. The user-friendly Web site generates 500,000 hits per month and provides a comprehensive distribution record of butterfly and moth species. It lets users interact with dynamic distribution maps, checklists, and species accounts that are generated in real time, offering the most up-to-date information with each visit. For more information, contact Kelly Lotts at (360) 305-8822 or lotts@xxxxxxxxxxxx USGS Subscription Makes Science No “Trivial Pursuit:” Never miss another Trivial Pursuit® question in the “Science and Nature” category. Subscribe to the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed for USGS Frequently Asked Questions, or suggest that your readers do. Every time a new question is posted or an existing FAQ is updated, subscribers are immediately notified. (How great would it would be to have a new FAQ pop into your RSS reader when you’re looking for a bit of science news or information?) To get started, go to the USGS Home Page, http://www.usgs.gov, and look for the orange “RSS” box in the Frequently Asked Questions section. Also, subscribe to other USGS RSS feeds for up-to-the-minute monitoring of earthquake and volcano activity, podcasts, and much more. Check out http://www.usgs.gov/homepage/rss_feeds.asp. For more information, contact Steve Shivers at (703) 648-5422 or spshivers@xxxxxxxx, or Scott Horvath at (703) 648-4011 or shorvath@xxxxxxxxx STORY SEEDS (points to ponder or investigate) Teachers! Science Buffs! Here are other resources to get you going. The USGS Launches Its Podcast Series – CoreCast: Using digital media, the USGS CoreCast brings you the straight science on natural hazards; climate change; satellite imagery and monitoring; water quality; human health and wildlife disease; and much more. To learn more, visit the CoreCast Channel by going to the USGS Home Page (www.usgs.gov) and clicking the “Podcasts” tab at the top. Tune into CoreCast. It's earth science from the inside out. Science in Motion! Animations and Films: Check out this collection of USGS videos and animations for use in standalone lessons or lesson planning. Topics represent the broad range of USGS science and research. See http://education.usgs.gov/common/video_animation.htm to access the USGS collection. Map Adventures Help Young People Find Their Way: Lesson plans developed by USGS scientists introduce the concept of maps and map symbols, and help students develop skills to understand absolute location — where things are on the Earth’s surface. These exercises allows students to experience the view from the ground and a view from much higher, which lets them think about how objects change in appearance depending on the perspective from which they are viewed. For more information, see http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/teachers-packets/mapadventures/mainfo.html#included or http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/teachers-packets/mapshow/. The USGS is a Polar Resources Powerhouse: Uncover the mysteries of the polar-regions using USGS interactive maps, satellite imagery and scientific studies, as seen through the eyes of the people who make the research happen and have their own stories to tell — join the celebration of the upcoming International Polar Year 2007–2009. See http://international.usgs.gov/ipy/ed_resources.shtml for more information. National Parks — A 3-D Adventure: Immerse yourself in our natural treasures. Take a 3-D tour of our national parks, featuring photographs, geology, and natural history. Let your 3-D glasses be the portal of discovery for you and your students. Find out more at http://www.3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/. What is a Mineral Deposit? USGS scientists have recently published a new product, “Lifecycle of a Mineral Deposit: A Teacher’s Guide for Hands-On Mineral Education Activities,” geared for fifth- through eight-grade teachers. Ten activity-based learning exercises educate students on basic geologic concepts, the processes of finding, identifying, and extracting the resources from a mineral deposit and the uses of minerals. The publication is available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2005/17/. Get a Closer Look at Mars! Mars has been as close as 34.6 million miles from Earth; it’s time kids see it even closer! Log onto Astro Kids at http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Kids/ to see close-up images of Mars, including Valles Marineris, the Grand Canyon of Mars. Earth Science Week 2007 is Just Around the Corner: Don’t forget to check out http://www.usgs.gov for information and festivities on Earth Science Week, Oct. 14–21. This year’s theme is “The Pulse of Earth Science.”
